Creative Writing

Entry requirements

Successful completion of a Masters course with an overall classification of Distinction, or its overseas equivalent, OR a record of prior publication in the field of creative writing, is a prerequisite for entry to the Creative Writing PhD. A research proposal and a sample of your creative work must be included with the formal application materials.

The University requires you to reside within a commutable distance from Manchester during your time as a registered student, unless you are on approved fieldwork/a formal placement or are on a period of Submission pending. This is to ensure that you are able to meet attendance expectations and participate in wider research activities within your discipline area and/or School. Should you be unable to do this at any point during your programme, a formal case must be made to the Faculty office, together with the full support of your supervisor(s). The University reserves the right to reject such a request where it is considered that your residency could have a detrimental impact on the progression and engagement of your studies.

Months of entry

September

Course content

The Creative Writing PhD consists of two elements.

The first is a creative element. This can be prose fiction, a novel or a collection of short stories of around 80,000 words. It can also be a collection of poetry. The PhD also has a critical element, roughly 30,000 to 50,000 words of research on a related subject useful to the writing of the creative element or to seeing the work in its literary context.

The PhD will require the student to develop their research skills and, to this end, they will be able to undertake a research skills audit and to attend seminars and workshops on research methods in the first year: in this way, students undertaking a PhD in Creative Writing will participate in School-wide training seminars which will develop useful research, teaching and IT skills, as well as seminars in relation to publication, authors' rights etc, which will be particularly useful to students of creative writing.

More information can be found via the Centre for New Writing website.

Information for international students

Students whose first language is not English require:

an overall IELTS score of 7.0 with 7.0 in the writing component

or

a TOEFL score of 600 paper-based test or 100 internet-based test

or

a Pearson Test of English (PTE) score of 70 overall with 70 in the writing component

or

an overall Trinity Integrated Skills in English (ISE) III grade of Merit with Merit in the writing component.

We accept a range of qualifications from different countries. For these and general requirements including English language see entry requirements from your country .

Fees and funding

The School offers a limited number of bursaries and studentships on a competitive basis, details of which can be found via the links below.

Please note that whilst we do not have closing dates for programme applications, all funding competitions have a specified deadline for submitting the funding application form and a separate (earlier) deadline for submitting the online programme application form, both of which will be stated in the funding competition details below:

• Research Impact Scholarships in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.
• AHRC North West Consortium Doctoral Training Partnership (NWCDTP) in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures 2018-19
• President's Doctoral Scholar (PDS) Awards in the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures 2018-19
• School of Arts, Languages and Cultures PhD Studentships 2018-19

Qualification and course duration

PhD